Pesto Bread Recipe

This recipe is Pesto bread with a twist. Or maybe I should say, “spiral.” It’s made similar to a cinnamon roll or jelly roll in the sense that the pesto is spread over a sheet of dough and rolled up. I guess you could say it’s a “Pesto roll.” This is a dramatic looking loaf of bread and makes a great centerpiece on any table with Italian dishes, soups and salads and robust meat dishes like pork, beef and whole roasted chickens. Your bread machine can make this recipe easy, but you need to finish it with some other steps after the dough is kneaded and then bake the loaf in a conventional oven.

The pesto you use for this recipe can either be store-bought or you can make it yourself. You’ll need 10 ounces of pesto and we’ll include a recipe in this article for how to make it yourself.

The whole process may seem a bit complicated, but it’s actually fun and comes together fairly quickly once you have the basic dough out of the bread machine.

INGREDIENTS:

Dough Ingredients:

5 teaspoons of sugar

3 teaspoons of salt

1 ½ cups of water at 110 degrees Fahrenheit or 43 degrees Celsius (an easy way To achieve this temperature is to put the cup and a half of water in the microwave in a Pyrex measuring cup and microwave on high for 60 seconds.)

1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil

4 cups of bread flour or all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon of bread machine yeast or active dry yeast

Pesto Ingredients:

1 cup of fresh basil leaves (you can substitute spinach leaves)

1 tablespoon of finely chopped garlic

¼ cup of pine nuts (you can substitute peanuts)

½ cup of grated parmesan cheese

½ teaspoon of salt

½ teaspoon of pepper

¼ to 1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil

For Glazing and Topping the Loaf:

1 egg yolk whisked with 1 tablespoon of water

2 tablespoons of pesto in reserve

Sprinkle of salt and a few cracks of black peppercorns

1/8 cup of fresh parsley chopped or dried parsley

¼ cup of grated parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons of pine nuts

DIRECTIONS:

DIRECTIONS FOR THE BASIC DOUGH:

1

Put all of the ingredients into the the bread pan in the order indicated in the ingredients section and select the basic dough setting.

2

While the machine is making the basic dough, you can make a pesto if you like.

DIRECTIONS FOR PESTO:

3

Put all of the ingredients except the olive oil into a food processor and pulse until everything is finely chopped.

4

With the food processor running, slowly add the olive oil until you have a paste-like consistency.

FINAL ASSEMBLY DIRECTIONS:

5

Remove the dough from the bread pan and place onto a floured counter top surface.

6

Roll the dough out to about a 20 x 20-inch sheet. Let the dough sheet rise for 15 minutes.

7

Spread the pesto onto the surface of the dough and roll up the dough sheet.

8

Place the pesto roll onto a buttered baking sheet in an “S” shape and let rise for 20 to 30 minutes.

9

Glaze the dough with the whisked egg yolk and water glaze.

10

Spoon a line of pesto along the top of the pesto dough.

11

Sprinkle the pesto dough with the salt and pepper.

12

Sprinkle the parmesan over the top.

13

Sprinkle the parsley over the top.

14

Gently press the pine nuts into the sides and top of the dough loaf in a random pattern.

15

Let final assembly rise for 10 minutes while you preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit or 175 degrees Celsius.

16

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until browned.

17

Slice and serve.

Ingredients

INGREDIENTS:

Dough Ingredients:

5 teaspoons of sugar

3 teaspoons of salt

1 ½ cups of water at 110 degrees Fahrenheit or 43 degrees Celsius (an easy way To achieve this temperature is to put the cup and a half of water in the microwave in a Pyrex measuring cup and microwave on high for 60 seconds.)

1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil

4 cups of bread flour or all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon of bread machine yeast or active dry yeast

Pesto Ingredients:

1 cup of fresh basil leaves (you can substitute spinach leaves)

1 tablespoon of finely chopped garlic

¼ cup of pine nuts (you can substitute peanuts)

½ cup of grated parmesan cheese

½ teaspoon of salt

½ teaspoon of pepper

¼ to 1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil

For Glazing and Topping the Loaf:

1 egg yolk whisked with 1 tablespoon of water

2 tablespoons of pesto in reserve

Sprinkle of salt and a few cracks of black peppercorns

1/8 cup of fresh parsley chopped or dried parsley

¼ cup of grated parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons of pine nuts

Directions

DIRECTIONS:

DIRECTIONS FOR THE BASIC DOUGH:

1

Put all of the ingredients into the the bread pan in the order indicated in the ingredients section and select the basic dough setting.

2

While the machine is making the basic dough, you can make a pesto if you like.

DIRECTIONS FOR PESTO:

3

Put all of the ingredients except the olive oil into a food processor and pulse until everything is finely chopped.

4

With the food processor running, slowly add the olive oil until you have a paste-like consistency.

FINAL ASSEMBLY DIRECTIONS:

5

Remove the dough from the bread pan and place onto a floured counter top surface.

6

Roll the dough out to about a 20 x 20-inch sheet. Let the dough sheet rise for 15 minutes.

7

Spread the pesto onto the surface of the dough and roll up the dough sheet.

8

Place the pesto roll onto a buttered baking sheet in an “S” shape and let rise for 20 to 30 minutes.

9

Glaze the dough with the whisked egg yolk and water glaze.

10

Spoon a line of pesto along the top of the pesto dough.

11

Sprinkle the pesto dough with the salt and pepper.

12

Sprinkle the parmesan over the top.

13

Sprinkle the parsley over the top.

14

Gently press the pine nuts into the sides and top of the dough loaf in a random pattern.

15

Let final assembly rise for 10 minutes while you preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit or 175 degrees Celsius.

Steve Nubie has been writing professionally for 38 years. He is a Chef and has traveled across Asia and Europe studying language, culture and cuisine. He instructs culinary classes in the Culinary School at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois and has written extensively on cuisine, cooking, diet and nutrition. He is a published author of 10 books including a cookbook and continues to write on subjects related to culinary trends.